spring

[[t]sprɪŋ[/t]]

v. sprangor, often, sprung; sprung; spring•ing;

1) to rise, leap, or move suddenly and swiftly:

a tiger about to spring[/ex]

2) to be released suddenly from a constrained position:

The door sprang open[/ex]

3) to issue forth suddenly or forcefully:

Oil sprang from the well[/ex]

4) to come into being; arise:

Industries sprang up in the suburbs[/ex]

5) to have as one's birth or lineage:

to spring from seafaring folk[/ex]

6) to extend upward

7) archit. to take an upward course or curve from a point of support, as an arch

8) to occur suddenly:

An objection sprang to mind[/ex]

9) to become bent or warped

10) to cause to spring

11) to cause the sudden operation of:

to spring a trap[/ex]

12) to cause to work loose, warp, or split:

Moisture sprang the board from the fence[/ex]

13) to undergo the development of:

sprang a leak[/ex]

14) to bend by force

15) to produce by surprise:

to spring a joke[/ex]

16) to leap over

17) sts Slang. to secure the release of from confinement

18) phv spring for, Informal. to pay for; treat someone to

19) an act of springing; a sudden leap or bound

20) an elastic quality:

a spring in his walk[/ex]

21) a structural defect caused by a warp or crack

22) an issue of water from the ground

23) the place of such an issue:

mineral springs[/ex]

24) a source; fountainhead:

a spring of inspiration[/ex]

25) mac an elastic contrivance or body, as a strip or wire of steel coiled spirally, that recovers its shape after being compressed, bent, or stretched

26) astron. the season between winter and summer, marked by the budding and growth of plants and the onset of warmer weather: in the Northern Hemisphere from the March equinox to the June solstice; in the Southern Hemisphere from the September equinox to the December solstice

27) the first stage and freshest period:

the spring of life[/ex]

28) archit.

Also called springing

a) the point at which an arch or dome rises from its support

b) the rise or the angle of the rise of an arch

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Etymology: bef. 900; OE springan, c. OFris springa, OOHGspringan, ON springa; (n.) OE spring issue of a stream, c. MLG, OHG spring